Rich Dixon is back on the road.

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Let’s get back to bike tours.

During FREEDOM TOUR 2017, our team talked about storms. Jesus said we can expect storms, and spoke about preparing for them.

It’s good to know your eternal house will withstand the storm, but earthly storms are still nasty and painful – no matter how well we prepare. I told a personal story.

A couple of years after I left, my small Iowa hometown experienced a horrific tornado. As I helped some friends clean up, I watched how two neighbors responded.

In one case, cleanup began almost immediately. The other guy just sort of stood and looked helpless and confused. Over the next few months, the pattern continued. Both had the same insurance company, but the first family was back in their home relatively soon. Months later, the second house looked as if it hadn’t been touched.

I remember at the time wondering about the difference. Could have been many things, but I can’t help thinking back to those first couple of days.

Most folks believe the storm is the source of their problems. But both guys in my story had similar resources and experienced the same storm. I wonder – are we skipping a step?

Maybe the first guy felt like recovering small items from the rubble didn’t make much difference in the face of massive devastation, but he jumped in anyway. The second guy, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the devastation, did nothing.

When Jesus talked about preparing for storms, I wonder if he was being practical. I wonder if he was reminding us of the value of small, seemingly insignificant acts of faith in response to a storm.

Maybe “building on the rock” means responding to a storm by doing what we can, where we are, with what we have – and then trusting Jesus for the outcome.